• Summary
• What's Good
• What's Bad
• On the Road
• In The Cabin
• Prices and Specs
• Owners' Reviews

Ford has its Focus ECOnetic. VW has its Golf Bluemotion. But instead of developing ever ‘cleaner' diesels, Honda has gone down the hybrid highway.

Why? We all know that, driven carefully, a Focus or Golf diesel can deliver 60mpg. So what's the point of the added complication of hybrid drive?

Actually, less complication. To conform to the latest emissions regulations a modern diesel has to have a particulate filter in its exhaust system. Add that to swirl actuators in the exhaust manifold that break loose and lunch the engine, a common rail diesel pump that seizes at the slightest lack of lubricity in its fuel, and a dual mass flywheel inclined to become a dual mess flywheel and modern diesels are both potentially and actually less reliable than modern petrol engined cars.

Run them in town and they often won't run for long without clogging the particulate filter, or without the filter destroying the engine oil. And in London that's as well as having to pay the congestion tax on top of paying 10p more for a litre for diesel than for petrol.

So that's £8 a day, on top of £35 a year VED v/s a hybrid's £0 a day on top of just £15 a year VED.

End of that particulate argument, then. So what's the car actually like?